Viewpoint – Peninsula’s public transport future

There’s nothing that fills my cup more than a good battle to protect the interests of our community and, better still, a successful outcome. Many of the battles, won or ongoing, can be long and relentless, and rely on strategy, timing and relationships.

Our local board, and the Penlink Now team, worked tirelessly to get O Mahurangi Penlink funded and started via the government’s NZ Upgrade Programme. The next big push for our board was to ensure it would open with public transport capability. We got in early with our advocacy for a bus station at the Stanmore Bay end to provide another reliable transport option on the peninsula, which is one of the five most vulnerable roading corridors in Auckland.

We were ecstatic with an early indication of priority to fund and start the bus station project next financial year. At the very last moment though, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi provided significantly less transport funding to Auckland than expected, which has now bumped our station down in priority. It’s devastating, but this is familiar territory. Large projects take years of relentless advocacy – we recently got the funding for an important roading project in East Coast Bays, which was the result of years of hard work along with the local MP, my sister Hon Erica Stanford.

AT are reviewing bus and ferry services on the peninsula to determine what changes are needed when O Mahurangi Penlink opens. They’re proposing three possible scenarios: One is essentially status quo (existing bus network and ferry); Two is a ‘bus-only’ scenario with no ferry (a new NX2 service, the new bus station with a new bus service between Gulf Harbour and the station); Scenario Three includes the ferry and a new frequent bus service running between Gulf Harbour and Hibiscus Coast Station.

Given AT ranked the bus station project so highly just mere months ago, it astounds me that our community is now presented with only one future scenario for this and at the cost of no ferry service. There is no scenario presented that retains the ferry with a new bus station and NX2 service. This could have given people more scope to choose future-proofing transport on the peninsula and providing transport choice, while reducing emissions and creating a more resilient transport network. It always comes down to funding of course, but the conversation should primarily be focused on the range of needs, factors and future usage predictions to obtain the end outcome scenarios- even if it entails an unaffordable option now, but one that could at least be staged over time.

Please have your say before December 1 at www.haveyoursay.at.govt.nz/wpstudy